Manufacture of were netting



MANUFAGTURE OF WIRE NETTING WILHELM KRMER by, Mamsmtm W. KRMER MANUFACTURE OF WIRE NETTING Feb. 16, 1937.

Filed Jan. 9, 1956 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Feb. 16, 1937. w. KRAMER MANUFACTURE OF WIRE NETTING 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Jan. 9. 1936 ffy. 5

Janen/0r WILHELM KRMER 4 Sheets-She@ 4 INVENTOR,

ufi :lfra'imer m J. y ATTORNEY.

Lhelrn BY/y ' Feb. 16, 1937.

w. KRAMER MANUFACTURE OF WIRE NETTING Filed dan. 9, 193e Patented AFeb. 16, 1937` i l y.

UNITED sTATEsf PATENT OFFICE MANUFACT'URZIoIg-l'mll NETTDG l I Wilhelm Krmer, Emmerich, Germany Application January 9, 193s, serial No. 58,386 In Germany October 9, 1933 18 Claims.' (Cl. 140-112) Wire netting the wires of which are very thin In this way there results for themachine in relation to the width of the mesh cannot be working according to the method of the invenmade by the known weaving or entwining proction a simple construction without great requireesses because the several wires no longer give a ment of space and a low cost o-f manufacture.

mutual hold on account of their too great dis- The machine may `further be so constructed that 5 tances apart and insufficient resistance to bendthe wire-bobbin carriers and wire-gripper caring, so that the wire netting collapses. It is riers for the transverse wires rotate uninterrupttherefore necessary to weld the longitudinal and edly whilst` the longitudinal wires are fed intertransverse wires together at their crossings. mittently. In the case of this constructional If welded wire netting composed of thin wires form there is no danger that theA longitudinal 10 with 4large mesh widths has not yet been used to wire may be stretched by its uninterrupted movea great extent, that is because most of the known ment during the welding operation and thatconmachines for making such wire netting work acsequently the wire, softened by the welding heat, cording to methods for the carrying out of which may break with arc formation.

large machines are required which take u'p much According to the invention, the wire-bobbin 15 room, are complicated in their details, and are carriers and the wire-gripper carriers for the y therefore very costly. transverse wires may be made of disc shape and In the case of these known machines, for the their planes may be located symmetrically to formation of the netting to be welded, the transthe longitudinal axis of the wire netting to beV 20 verse wires are supplied by special bobbin frames made and be inclined to the surface of the wire 20 l either 4from the side, in which case the lateral netting in such a manner that they leave free supplying device requires a considerable erection between them and the wire netting space for space laterally of the machine proper, or they the provision of a welding electrode advantaare placed on the stretched longitudinal 4wires geously made in the form of a strip or a confrom above by means 0f Supplying members tact plate as an abutment for thewelding elec- 25 moved to and iro over the machine. trodes.

In the case of both methods the .devices for According to the invention it is further pos- Supplying the transverse 'wires require at the sible to arrange the wire-bobbin holders and place O'f Supply Space extending over the stretched the wire-grippers rotatably on their disc-shaped longitudinal wires to such an extent that there carriers and also to hold the wire-bobbin hold- 30 is no space left free at that place for the proers 1n the wire-hobbit; carriers by spring presvision of the welding electrodes. Therefore the sure and to make them easily exchangeable. Furentire We1ding arrangement must 'De provided at thermore, the welding electrodes and their abutanotherpart of the machine and the length of ment may bevarranged to be adjustable horithe machine is thus again considerably increased. zontally and vertically in relation to the ap- 35 These disadvantages are obviated by the methparatus for supplying the transverse wires and 0d according t0 the invention, Which CODSSS there may be arranged laterally tothe welding essentially in that the transverse wires are drawn electrodes stops which in combination with hold- Off a Wire-bobbin'by means 0f One 0l' more Wireing clamps secure the correct position of the grippersin such a manner that at the beginning transverse wire during welding.

of the drawing off the wire-bobbin and the wire- In the accompanying drawings there is repgripper are approximately in a plane extending resented an apparatus according to the invenat right angles to the plane of the netting t0 be tion: made through the middle axis thereof and then Figure 1 shows a side view;

on the drawing off of the transverse wire by in Figure 2 a section according to the line a--b of 45 each case -a length that corresponds approximate- Figure 1 I ly to half the Width of the network to be made, y Figure 3 a wire-bobbin holder and a wiremove alternately towards one edge of the netgripper shoruy before the grasping of a transting and the other. The transverse wires advanverse wire by the gripper;

, tageously are cut off at both ends after the draw- Figures 4 and 5 front and side views respec- 50 ini- Off 0f' the necessary length 0f Wil'e- A600111- tively of the parts for grasping and cutting the ing to the invention it isspossible to move the transverse wires; wire-bobbin and the wire-gripper in opposite Fig. 6 a schematic illustration of the manner directions towards the edges of the netting durin which the longitudinal wires and the ilnished ving the drawing ol of the transverse wire. netting are fed forward; 55

Fig. 7 a bottom view of a portion of the finished netting, and

Fig. 8 a view of a portion of a roller for guiding the longitudinal wires.

The longitudinal wires I are led in a known manner from reels Ia over rollers 2 and 3 between the welding electrodes 4 and 5 and the abutment contact plate 6 (Figures 1 and 2).

The wires I are fed forward by rollers 31 and 38 as will be explained later. grooved at 3a (see Fig. 8) in order to keep the wires at the desired distance corresponding to the width of the netting, and is so arranged that the wires run at a small distance above plate 6 when the electrodes 4 and 5 are raised. By means of the wire-bobbin holders 1 and the wiregrippers 8, which are mounted in the continuously rotating wire-bobbin carriers 9 and wire-gripper carriers I0 andare carried by them along the circumference of a circle, the transverse wires I I are conducted from below or from above to the longitudinal wires I. The schematic view of Fig. 6 clearly shows the way the transverse wires when fed from below travel in relation to the longitudi nal wires II.

The wire-bobbin carriers 9 and the wire-gripper carriers I 8 rotate in planes inclined to each other, this being effected by the inclination of the shafts I2 and I3. 'Ihe place at which a given wirebobbin holder 1 on the wire-bobbin carrier 9 and the wire-gripper 8 on the wire-gripper carrier l0 that cooperates with it approach nearest to each other is in a horizontal plane other than the place of their greatest separation. The fastening bolts I4 are mounted rotatably in the wire-bobbin carrier III and are so rotated by means of the small rotating toothed wheels I5, which engage with the wheel I6, that the wire-bobbin carriers 1 and the wire-grippers 8 execute a revolution about their own axes during each revolution of the wire-bobbin carrier 9 and the wire-gripper carrier Ill, and in fact in such a manner that the position of the wire-bobbin holders and Wire- Slippers always has the same direction in space. The bevel wheels I1 and I8 transmit to the spur wheels I 8 the rotational velocity necessary for this purpose. From the place at which the wirebobbin holders 1 and the wire-grippers 8 come nearest to one another, the wire-grippers are opened by means of two cam surfaces I9 (Figure 3) so that one end of the transverse wire I I that la in be newly formed projects into the opening of the wire-gripper jaws. When the position' of approach is reached, the cam surfaces I9 liberate the rollers 20, whereupon the tongs close under the action of the compression springs 2I. 'Ih'e new transverse wire is now drawn out between a wire-gripper 8 and a wire-bobbin holder 1 quite automatically by the further movement of the wire-bobbin carriers 9 and the wire-gripper carriers I0. The wire-bobbin holders 1 have each a leather brake 22 and a nipple 23 for the braking and guiding of the transverse wire II running oif the bobbin 24. The fastening bolts I4 of the wire-bobbin holder 1 are provided lengthwise with an axial hole. The holders 1 have downwardly extending pins 25 which t in the holes of the rotatable fastening bolts I4 and serve the purpose of providing for the easy and quick exchange of the bobbins 24 with their wire-bobbin holders 1.

The lever catches 29, which engage with their I4 and are under the action of tension springs 28,

Guiding roller 3 is serve for the correct positioning of the changed Wire-bobbin carriers 1. f

In the course of the movement of the carriers 9 and I0, each transverse wire grasped by the wire-gripper is drawn out to the desired extent, raised above the abutment contact plate 6, and shifted in between the latter and the longitudinal wires running off roller 3 towards the electrodes. until it impinges during the further movement against the stop 29 (Figures 4 and 5) fastened laterally to the abutment contact plate 6. Shortly afterwards the two holding clamps 30 press the transverse wire II against the prolongation of the abutment 6, whereupon the two shearing blades 3I separate the stretched transverse wire II from the wire-bobbin holder 1 and the wire-gripper 8. 'Over the transverse wire II thus clamped fast extend the longitudinal wires I between the welding electrodes 4 and 5 and the contact plate 6. The welding electrodes 4 and 5 are now pressed against the contact plate 6 and the primary circuit of the welding transformer 32 is closed by the switch 33. The secondary current flows from the transformer 32 through the conductor 34 into the electrode 4 and is distributed there over its entire width, whereupon it traverses the wire crossings clamped between the electrode 4 and the contact plate 9 and passes into the contact plate 6. From the contact plate 6 it passes through the wire crossings that are clamped between the electrode 5 and the contact plate 6 into the electrode 5 and from it through the return conductor 35 into the transformer 32. When the secondary current passes through the wire-crossings that areV clamped fast, they are heated to welding temperature and welded, whereupon the electrodes 4 and 5 carried by the rods 54 and 55 and the holding clamps 30 are raised by means of the eccentrlcs 50, 5I, 52, and 53 from the abutment contact plate 6 and its lateral prolongations in order to make room for the next transverse wire. Before the entry of the next transverse wire, the finished wire netting. which is led over the guide roller 38 to the feeding drums 31, 38, 39, is fed forward by a mesh length by means of the ratchet wheel 40 and the pawl 4I which is located on the eccentric 49, by means of the friction between the stretched wire-netting and the feeding drums 31, 38, and 39. By this means the longitudinal wires I running off roller 3 are also moved forward. The stepwise advancement of these wires occurs while the electrodes are in the raised position, and is completed before the subsequent welding takes place. Thus, after eachwelding operation, a free place is produced for a further transverse wire which, in the meantime, is placed between the electrodes against stops 29 by the constantly moving carriers 9 and I0, and then is welded to the longitudinal wires in the hereinbefore described manf ner. This process is repeated in the case of each transverse Wire.

The completed netting has the shape as illustrated in Fig. '1. Equality of the mesh lengths is safeguarded by stops 29 against which the transverse wires abut before being welded, and equlity of the mesh width by the spacing of the grt )ves 3a of roller 3.

The electrodes 4 and 5 may beV united into a strip extending for the whole width of the netting. In this case the abutment contact plate 6 must be connected to the return conductor 35.

The described movements of the several parts are produced by means of the driving shaft 42,

which is driven by means of the belt pulley 43. 5

The shaft 42 rotates with constant velocity, which must be suited to the wire material to be treated for the time being. The two shafts I2 and Il are driven by the shaft 42 through the bevel wheels 44 and 45, the shafts 45 and the bevel wheels 48 and 41.

Almost all the moved masses of the machine work uninterruptedly; .only the feeding of the 'wire netting takes place intermittently. During each revolution of the shaft 42 a transverse wire is welded to the longitudinal wires.

'I'he feeding rollers 31, 38 and 99 are connected with one another by the toothed wheels 94, 65 and 55. From the feeding roller 39 the finished wire netting passes in a known manner to a windingup roller. y

The fixing of the times for the pressing up of the holding clamps 39 and the electrodes 4 and 5 may be effected in two ways, and, in fact, by turn ing the eccentrics 59 and 53 on the shaft 42 or by adjusting the nuts 55and 51 on the threaded portions of the guides 59 (see Figs. 4. and 5). Each of the holdingclamps 30 terminates upwardly in a bolt, which can slide in the guide 59 and in which is fastened pin 59 which projects outwardly through slots 10 of the guide 59 and may bear with both ends on the nut 59. A compression spring 60 is arranged between nut 51 and clamp `ill. A guide arm 55 is linked to the upper portion of guide '59 by means of bolt 13, and an other guide arm 54 is linked to clamp 30 by means of bolt 63. An upper shearing blade 4 3| is mounted on bolt 13, and guided by bolt 5I passing through slot 14 of blade 9i.

Lower blades 5l and 62 are fastened to the prolongation of contact plate 5'. In the topmost position of guide 59, pin 59 rests on nut 55. When, on a downward stroke, clamp 30 engages the abutment contact plate 5 or a transverse wire Ii on top of this plate, its movement is stopped, but an increasing pressure is exerted thereupon by means of the compression spring 60. Simultaneously pin 59 leaves nut 55 and finally takes the position of Fig. 4 in slot 10. In the meantime blade 9| travels downward together with guide 59 while slot 14 passes bolt 89 until blade 3l meets lower blades 5i and 52 severing wire Il.

When, in order to set the time for the action of clamps 30, nuts 56 and 51 are so adjusted that the stems of the clamps protruding from guides 59 are lengthened they impinge on the prolongation of the abutment 5 sooner during their downward movement. l

For the purpose of adjusting with accuracy the timing of the shearing of the transverse wires, the upper shearing blades 3l may be adjusted in height so that they meet the lower blades 9| and 62 sooner or later at the shearing point in the middleof the blades.

The adjustment for diierent'widths of netting iseffected by shifting the electrodes 4 and 5 and the contact plate 6 in the direction towards the guiding roller 3. In this way the transverse wires are cui; off and welded before the maximum outmostposition of the wire-bobbin holders 1 and of the wire-grippers 8 is reached, so that narrower wire netting is produced.

I claim:

l. In a machine for making.v wire netting with longitudinal and transverse wires electrically welded at their crossings, a welding member, a

, bobbin forwire for thetransverse wires, a wiregripper, means for bringing the bobbin and wiregripper together on opposite sides of a plane extending through the longitudinal centre line of the netting perpendicular to the latter, means for operating the gripper to grip the end of the wire on the bobbin, and means for moving the bobbinl and the gripper towards opposite edges of the netting and also towards the plane of the netting so that the transverse wire is brought between the longitudinal wires and said welding member.

2. In a machine for making wire netting with longitudinal and transverse wires electrically welded at their crossings, a disk-shaped Wire bobbin carrier for the transverse wires, a diskshaped wire-gripper carrier, said carriers being symmetrically arranged on opposite sides of the longitudinal axis of the wire netting and having their planes inclined to the surface of the netting, and a welding member mounted between said carriers and the wire netting.

3. A machine as claimed in claim 2 in which a number of wire bobbin holders and wire-grippers are mountedrotatably on the disc-shaped carriers.

4. A machine as claimed in claim 2 in which the wire bobbin` carrier is provided with a number of holders for bobbins, said holders being easily removable and spring means being provided for retaining them on the carrier.

5. A machine as claimed in claim 2 comprising welding means horizontally and vertically adjustable in relation to the disk-shaped wirebobbin and wire-gripper carriers.

6. A machine as claimed in claim 2 comprising abutments and clamping means for holding the transverse wires in the correct position during welding'.

7. A machine as claimed in claim 2 including intermittently driven friction feeding means for the wire netting. A l 8. In a method of making wire netting with longitudinal and transverse wires welded at their crossings, the steps which consist in arranging a set of longitudinal wires in a relation corresponding to the vshape of the netting to be made, bringing a spooled wire near the longitudinal plane of symmetry of said set, gripping the free end of the spooled wire, moving said gripped end towards the one side and the spooled wire towards the other side of said set, thereby stretching a portion of said spooled wire across the longitudinal wires, bringing said stretched portion into engagement with said longitudinal wires, and welding the wire crossings.

9. In a method of making wire netting with longitudinal and transverse wires welded at their crossings, the steps which consist in bringing-a spooledwire near a plane extending through-the longitudinal center line of a set of longitudinal wires arranged in another plane preparatory to form'the netting, and at right angles to said other plane, gripping the free end of the spooled wire. moving said gripped end towards the one side and the spooled wire towards the other 'side of said set thereby stretching a portion of said spooled wire across the longitudinal wires, bringing said stretched portion between said longitudinal wires'4 and a welding means.V and welding the wire crossings.

101 In a method of making wire netting with longitudinal and transverse wires welded at their crossings, the steps which consist in bringing aA spooled wire near a plane extending through'the longitudinal center line of a set of longitudinal wires arranged in another plane preparatory to form thenetting, and at right angles to said other plane, gripping the free end of the spooled wire, moving said gripped end towards the one side and the spooled wire towards the other side ci.' said set, thereby stretching a portion of said spooled wire across the longitudinal wires to form a transverse wire, bringing saidtransverse wire into engagement with said longitudinal wires, welding the wire crossings and cutting the transverse Wire from the vremainder ,of the spooled wire, bringing said remainder of the spooled wire ,back to its position near said first mentioned plane, and advancing said longitudinal wires a step corresponding to the Vlength of a mesh of the netting.

l1. A method as claimed in claim 10 in which said spooled wire is continuously moved on an endless path.

12. In a method of making wire netting with longitudinal and transverse wires welded at their crossings, the steps which consist in bringing `a, spooled wire near a plane extending through the longitudinal center line of a set of longitudinal wires arranged in another plane preparatory to form the netting, and at right angles to said other plane, and on a level diiering from that oi' the plane of .the longitudinal wires, gripping the free end of the spooled wire, moving said gripped end towards the one side and the spooled wire towards the other side of the netting thereby stretching a portion of said spooled wire across the longitudinal wires to form a transverse wire, simultaneously bringing said spooled wire and said gripped end thereof to the level of said longitudinal wire, welding the wire crossings when said transverse wire contacts said longitudinal wires, cutting the transverse wire from the remainder oi the spooled wire, bringing said remainder of the spooled wire back to its position near said rst mentioned plane, and advancing said longitudinal wires a step corresponding to the length of a mesh oi' the netting.

13. In a method ot making wire netting with longitudinal and transverse wires welded at their crossings, the steps which consist in arranging a set of longitudinal wires in a relation corresponding to the shape of the netting to bemade. bringing aspooled wire near the longitudinal plane of symmetry of said set, and on a level diering from that ot said set, gripping the free end of the spooled wire, moving said gripped end towards the one side and the spooled wire towards the other side thereby stretching a portion of said spooled wire across the longitudinal wires to form a transverse wire, simultaneously bringing said spooled .wire and said gripped end thereof to the level of said set at the sides thereof, welding the wire crossing when said transverse wire contacts' said longitudinal wires, cutting said transverse wire near its gripped end and near the remainder of the spooled wire, bringing said remainder' oi' the spooled wire back to its positionnear said ilrst mentioned plane, and advancing said longitudinal wires a step corresponding to the length of a mesh of the netting.

14. In a machine for making wire netting with longitudinal and transverse wires electrically welded at their crossings, a welding member, a stepwise operated mechanism for feeding the longitudinal wiresto said welding member, a constantly moving mechanism for stretching a transverse wire across ,the longitudinal wires at a level differing from that of the place of welding, and for bringing said transverse wire to the level of said longitudinal Wires, said constantly moving mechanism including a travelling bobbin for the material of the transverse wires and a travelling wire-gripper adapted to grip the end of the wire of the bobbin, the travelling paths of said bobbin and of said gripper being arranged in planes which are inclined and symmetric to the longitudinal axis of the wire netting, and means for operating said Welding member when a wire portion of said bobbin contacts the longitudinal Wires near the welding member.

l5. In a machine for making Wire netting with longitudinal and transverse wires electrically welded at their crossings, a welding member. a stepwise operated mechanism for feeding the longitudinal Wires to said welding member, a travelling bobbin for the material for the transverse wire, a travelling wire-gripper adapted to grip the free end of the wire of said bobbin, the travelling paths of said bobbin and of said gripper being arranged in planes which are inclined and symmetric to the longitudinal plane of symmetry of the netting to be made, each of said paths being endless and including a point near said plane of symmetry, and another point near one'of the edges of the netting, driving means for synchronically moving said bobbin and said gripper in opposite directions, and means operatively connected with said driving means for operating said welding member when a Wire portion stretched between said Abobbin and said gripper contacts the longitudinal wires at the welding member.

16. In a machine for making wire netting with longitudinal and transverse wires electrically welded at their crossings, a welding member, a bobbin for the material of the transverse wires, a wire-gripper, means for operating said gripper to grip the end of the Wire of the bobbin, supporting means for said bobbin, supporting means for said gripper, said supporting means defining, for said bobbin and said gripper respectively, endless paths being close to each other on opposite sides of the longitudinal plane of symmetry vof the longitudinal wires, and on a level diilering from that of the longitudinal wires, and beingrremote from each other on opposite sides of said welding member and substantially on the level of said plane of the longitudinal wires, and means for synchronically moving said bobbin and said gripper in opposite directions.

L 17. In a machine for making wire netting with longitudinal and transverse wires electrically welded at their crossings, a bobbin for the material of the transverse wires, a wire-gripper adapted to grip the end of the Wire of the bobbin, a movable carrier for said bobbin, a movable carrier for said gripper, said carriers being symmetrically arranged on opposite sides of the longitudinal plane of symmetry of the wire netting to be made, and having planes of motion inclined to said plane of` symmetry, a holder for said bobbin, said holder being mounted on said bobbin carrier and including guiding means for tween said carriers and the wire netting, automatic means for operating said gripper to grip the end of the wire .of the bobbin when said bobbin and said gripper are close to each other, and

means for cutting said wire of the bobbin near 5 both ends of said welding member. 

